Shattered Consciousness
by August08
Summary: Captured and separated in the hands of the Galra, Keith must make a terrible choice: Save Lance, or give up the secrets of Voltron. The choice is made even harder when Lance begs him not to give up Voltron. How do you choose between one of your best friends and the fate of the entire universe? And how do you fight against an enemy when the enemy is your own mind?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : Not going to bore you with a long winded author's note. I just hope you all enjoy the story. I also want to send out a shout out to my friend, Yazzy Dollface who introduced me to the wonderful world of Voltron. I had no idea what I was missing. Anyway, enjoy. Feedback is always welcome.

 **Disclaimer** : I own nothing. Simply borrowing for the fun of it.

* * *

He had never heard silence so loud before. It was a weird feeling, being crammed in a space pod with a former teammate and have absolutely nothing to say. Not that he could blame Lance for being quiet, for once. Even after all the battles they'd been through, all the heart-felt conversations, heck even after Lance almost died in his arms, Keith still felt his skin crawl every time he was left alone in the same room with him.

Lance sat back in his seat, elbow propped on the side of the pod with his chin in his palm. He gazed out the window, tapping his fingers against his cheek. He heard Keith shift in the seat next to him. His blood boiled, heart hammering angrily in his chest.

"Why me?" he muttered, not realizing he had said it out loud.

"So, he does talk," Keith commented.

Lance looked over at him. "What?"

"I thought the pod might explode with all this tension you're giving off," Keith said.

Lance huffed, lowering his hand. "Why did Shiro have to stick me on this mission? He was better off choosing Pidge or Hunk."

Keith growled low in his throat. He closed his eyes briefly. "This isn't exactly a picnic for me either, Lance," he said hotly. "There's a million other people I'd rather be stuck in this pod with than you."

"Well, at least you're honest," Lance commented, folding his arms across his chest.

Keith sighed. "I've tried to forget what your problem is."

"I don't have a problem."

"You clearly do. You've always had a problem."

Lance continued to stare out the window, slumping in his seat and pouting. "Why couldn't we have taken Red?" he grumbled. "He's roomier, less cramped."

"Because this is a recon mission. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves," Keith replied.

"But, we would have been there by now."

Keith growled again, remembering his Blades training. Taking several deep breaths he managed to calm himself down. "We're in Galra infested space. The Red Lion would have drawn in too much attention. And we can't risk having one of the lions captured again."

Lance's pout deepened at Keith's logic. He couldn't argue, which ticked him off even more. The pod suddenly lit up with a blaring alarm. Lance shot up and covered his ears on instinct.

"What is that?" he asked.

Keith tapped a couple of buttons. "Galra ship. Coming in-argh!"

The pod jolted to a stop and began moving backwards. "Get us out of here, Keith!" Lance cried.

"I'm trying. The pod won't respond," Keith said.

The friends looked at each other as the pod continued on its course towards the Galra cruiser. Their fear and anxiety was mirrored in the other's eyes.

"I got your back, Keith," Lance said, holding up his bayard.

Keith put his hand on his blade's hilt. "And I've got yours."

The pod came to a stop inside the ship. Keith lowered the front shield and they jumped down, gun and blade blazing. They ducked and weaved through the sentries, taking the robots out one by one. Keith looked around, trying to locate Lance.

He cried out in pain as electricity coursed through his body. He collapsed to his knees, sword falling from his limp fingers. He heard another scream and the sound of a body falling. Keith tipped forward, hands bracing against the cold metal floor. With vision swimming, he looked to see two sentries dragging an unconscious Lance away.

Keith fumbled to find his sword. A guard walked up and kicked the blade away. Keith weakly looked up to see the hunched figure of Zarkon's witch walk up.

"Bring him to my chamber."

The witch's voice sounded fuzzy and distant. Keith vaguely registered being picked up and dragged off before everything was finally consumed in a thick, inky darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lance. Come in, Lance. Pidge to Lance. Lance!"

Her only response was a mess of static. Pidge's heart skipped a few beats, a cold sweat breaking out on her brow. She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

"They could be out of radio contact," Pidge mumbled. Replacing her glasses, she tinkered with the radio. "Maybe if I adjust the frequency..."

"Still nothing?"

Pidge cried out and jumped, spinning around to find Shiro standing behind her. Sighing in relief, Pidge went back to the radio.

"I'm getting worried, Shiro. They should have reported in by now."

"They are in hostile territory," Shiro replied. "They probably ran into some technical problems and can't radio in."

Pidge looked over her shoulder, eyes determined, yet worried. "I don't think so. They've been gone for two days. We should have heard something."

Shiro hummed in thought. He tried to hide it, but his own worry was beginning to break through. It wasn't like Keith or Lance to not keep them posted. He just hoped they hadn't run into the Galra.

A screen opened in front of them, showing a very worried Allura. Shiro and Pidge felt their blood run cold when Allura told them to get to the bridge immediately.

The friends hurried to the bridge to find Kolivan up on the holoscreen and Hunk, Coran and Allura waiting for them.

"What's going on?" Shiro asked.

"Is there news from Keith and Lance?" Pidge questioned.

"Unfortunately, no," Kolivan replied.

"Then, why..."

"We found something you needed to know about," Kolivan said.

He stepped to the side, revealing a destroyed space pod. It was the same pod Keith and Lance had used.

"Wh-where's Lance?" Pidge asked when she finally found her voice again.

"Where's Keith?" Shiro demanded, voice panicked.

"That we don't know," Kolivan answered grimly.

"You don't know where they are?" Hunk exclaimed.

"We lost communication with Keith two days ago," Kolivan explained. "Our contact he was supposed to meet told us he and your paladin, Lance never arrived at their destination."

"No," Allura breathed in horror.

"When we went searching their last known coordinates, we found your pod floating in space, empty and destroyed." Kolivan's face softened. "I'm sorry to say, they may have been intercepted by the Galra."

"Can't you track them?" Pidge asked. "Lance and Keith would both have trackers."

"That was another thing we found," Kolivan said before holding up Lance's paladin armour and Keith's Blade's uniform.

"Lance," Allura whispered, heart plunging into the pit of her stomach.

"We've been searching, princess. I have my men on the inside looking for them," Kolivan said.

"Thank you," Allura said. "Please, keep us informed."

"I will," Kolivan promised.

Hunk, Shiro and Pidge looked at each other. Two of their best friends were missing. And to make matters worse, they could have been in the hands of their sworn enemy.

 _Lance...Keith...where are you?_ Allura thought.

* * *

The interrogation room rang with a cacophony of pained screams. Haggar held up her hand and the Druid shut off the electricity. Keith's body fell limp as he gasped for breath.

"Tell me what I want to know and the pain will cease," Haggar said.

Keith coughed as he choked on his own breath. "You might as well just kill me, witch," he growled. "I won't tell you anything."

Haggar narrowed her eyes. "I thought you might say that," she said.

She waved a hand and a screen appeared in mid-air. Keith gasped as his eyes widened. The screen showed a beaten and battered Lance. He was chained to an interrogation table.

"Lance," Keith breathed.

Lance weakly looked up, met his gaze for a second before his head fell forward again. Keith clenched his jaw.

"If you will not give me the secrets of Voltron to save yourself, perhaps you will be more forthcoming to save your companion," Haggar said.

"I-"

"Don't," came a quiet whisper.

Lance looked up again, locking eyes with Keith. "You can't...you can't give them Voltron."

"Lance, I-"

"No matter what," Lance cut in, voice sharp and determined. "They can't get Voltron. They'll destroy the universe."

"Enough!" Haggar yelled.

Lance screamed as he was blasted with dark energy. Keith closed his eyes, bowing his head, trying to block out the sound.

"You can make it stop," Haggar told him. "Tell me where Voltron is and your companion's pain will end."

"No...Keith...don't..."

Lance's screams increased in volume as the electricity was increased. Haggar waved a hand and the blasts were shut off. Lance hung limp in the chains, chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath.

"What is your answer?" Haggar demanded.

Keith looked up at her, eyes burning with a loathing hatred. "You'll never have Voltron," he snarled.

Haggar sneered, turning her back and heading for the door. "Make them suffer," she growled.


End file.
